Colin Ackermann is the only Foxes batsman to post a half-century so far in this season's T20 Blast

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Leicestershire go into Friday's match against Durham looking to put their NatWest T20 Blast campaign back on the rails after consecutive defeats.

The Foxes won their first four games in this season's competition, all away from home, to give themselves a clear lead at the top of the North Group.

But an unfortunate Duckworth-Lewis reverse at the hands of Northamptonshire, followed by a 30-run loss to a rejuvenated Birmingham side, means they have slipped to fourth in the table, one of four teams on eight points behind leaders Yorkshire, and Northamptonshire in second.

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They do, however, have a game in hand on the sides around them, and the arrival of winless Durham at the Fischer County Ground appears to offer a big chance to regain momentum.

Head coach Pierre de Bruyn says taking that opportunity would be a demonstration of character on the part of his players.

“Winning is a habit but you are always going to have a little dip in the competition,” said the South African.

“We need to stay calm and refocus. Yes, we can look at the fact that Durham are yet to win as an opportunity to grind them harder but the fact is they are a team that aren’t going to lay down.

“They will play some good cricket and are going to want to redeem themselves and get back into this competition. They will see our result against Birmingham as an opportunity for them to use to their advantage. There are no easy games in this North group.”

Foxes captain Clint McKay is the leading T20 wicket-taker with 13 victims so far

That much was evident in Durham's impressive effort in the field against Yorkshire at Headingley on Wednesday, when they restricted the Vikings to 152-8 from 20 overs. The Jets' batsmen struggled to 128-7 in reply, with leg-spinner Adil Rashid taking 4-19 from his four overs. Durham's batsmen also found the going hard against Leicestershire at Chester le Street 12 days ago, limping to 117-8 after the Foxes scored 144-8.

The pitch at Grace Road is likely to be more favourable to heavy scoring, however, and Leicestershire will be looking to their powerful top four of Luke Ronchi, Cameron Delport, Mark Cosgrove and Colin Ackermann to fire them to a big score.

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While all have consistently threatened to take the game away from the opposition, only Ackermann has a half-century to his name, and Ronchi (162 runs in six innings, with a strike rate of 158) and Cosgrove (144, s.r 142) will be particularly keen to convert a good start into a match-winning innings.

With the ball, Clint McKay remains the top wicket-taker in the competition with 13 victims, taken in two innings less than many of his rivals, and an economy rate of just 6.75, while left-arm spinner Callum Parkinson has ten wickets and an economy rate of 7.1.

The Foxes have also caught well, with Lewis Hill (seven) and Tom Wells (six) looking impressively secure under the high ball.